If Ne-Yo's recent work seems heavily inspired by Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson, the biggest compliment for "Closer" may be that it holds up to classics like "Rock With You" and "Off the Wall." Stargate, who turned on the retro dance juice in producing Rihanna's big hit "Don't Stop the Music," pull out a thumping beat, the sound of acoustic guitar breaks, and slashing strings to weave a pop-dance concoction worthy of the King of Pop at his peak.
"Closer" has already reached the top of the UK pop singles chart and is riding the top 10 in a number of other countries. It's a strong return to form for Ne-Yo not only as a songwriter, but also a performer in his own right.
-About.com
-click play if stopped-
-click play to listen to the upcoming, future hit-singel "Miss independent"-
-click play to listen to Rihanna´s "Don´t stop the music"
As tipped here yesterday, Rihanna's "Take a Bow" makes a near-record-breaking jump on the Hot 100 this week to overtake Leona Lewis' four-week No. 1, "Bleeding Love." "Take a Bow" soars 53-1 thanks to digital sales of 267,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
-click play to listen to Rihanna´s Take a bow-
-click play to listen-
Usher "His mistakes"
Usher "What´s a man to do"
Jennifer Hudson "Spotlight"
Lionel Richie "I call it love"
Mariah Carey "Bye bye"
Mary J. Blige "What love is"
Rihanna looks set to make pop chart history in America on Thursday when she becomes the female artist with the biggest jump to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Her Take a Bow is expected to rocket to the top of the singles chart from a lowly 53, thanks to a whopping 267,000 digital download sales.
The song's jump is the second-best leap to the top, trailing only Rihanna's duet partners Maroon 5 who scored a number one withMakes Me Wonder a year ago after a 63-position hike from 64.
Rihanna's collaboration with Maroon 5 on If I Never See Your Face Again is expected to be one of the new chart's highest debuts when the official countdown is released.
ASCAP is the association of American songwriters. Its Pop Music Awards were held last night in Los Angeles. In the presence of industry greats and the superstars of pop music the Norwegian producer duo Stargate collected no less than five prizes.
These formal honours express again what the billboard lists of the past years have made evident, that Stargate’s Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen are among the most influential songwriters currently around. The ASCAP awards they received last night were for the following radio hits of 2007:
“Hate that I love you” (Rihanna),
“Because of you” (Ne-Yo),
“Wait for you” (Elliott Yamins)
“Irreplaceable” (Beyoncé)
and “Tattoo” (Jordin Sparks)
Of these “Irreplaceable” was the biggest smash. Reaching number one on the billboard list and in countries all across the world, it was one of the great songs of 2007.
Stargate were expecting to win prizes, relates Hermansen to the Norwegian daily VG, but not five of them. -It is a very special experience to be called up on the podium five times in the presence of Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, Justin Timberlake and the likes.
The Kodak theatre –that symbol of the American entertainment industry- is indeed a long way from Stargate’s starting point in Trondheim Norway, and in a way it is hard to see how they could climb any higher, for they have indeed reached the very summit of pop music.
Yet they keep working relentlessly from their base in New York. -For the love of music one would assume, and with ever new monster hits in sight.
In 2008 they started out at the very top with the song “With You” performed by Chris Brown reaching number one in February. Then Rihanna’s “Don’t stop the music” reached number two. So; first and second place on the world’s most important hit list, and it is still only April
Jennifer Hudson "Spotlight"
Lionel Richie "I call it love"
Mariah Carey "Bye bye"
Mary J. Blige "What love is"